Greetings, Garden Greats!

In the Garden 🥗
Our winter garden has been so bountiful that we can’t keep up … we need your help to gather greens and fix amazing, nutritious foods at home this weekend with your families. Please join us for an informal Harvest Day from 10:00 - NOON today.  Bring your buckets, bags and kids and load up!!

In the Classroom 📚
Our children have been super-focused and we are proud of the academics that are taking off at our school, paving the way for our elementary program release this fall.  Following the lead of the child, we have lengthened the work period to allow more time to repeat to mastery inside of the classroom.  Additionally, we have started a reading group twice/week in the afternoons with our Full Day students.  5+ year children enjoyed their introduction to the library and returned again this week for an independent visit.  Literacy abounds!!

Summer School dates have been released: we are offering an IC (18 - 3 years) experience and a Primary Program (3 - 6 years) experience in two successive 4-week sessions.  We will be working on academics in Primary and providing consistency and opportunities to practice life skills in the tot room. Special offerings include Spanish Music Classes, Science Exploration, Dance, Cooking, Art and Poetry.  Julia’s Garden students get first dibs on spots, we hope to see you all back in the garden for Summer School 2019!  

Rates, times and enrollment forms soon to follow:
JG Summer School 2019 ☀️
Session One: June 23 - July 18th
Session Two: July 22nd - August 15th

Parent Education 👨‍👧🍷☕️
Don’t forget the many opportunities for parent education this semester. Our bi-annual Toileting and Your Toddler Talk with yours truly is Wednesday, January 30th at 10:15 AM in Casetta. Coffee and tea served.

It’s not too late to sign up for the How to Talk Series with Ms. Natalie. This class offers essential guidelines for how we talk to children everyday and is recommended for all parents and caregivers.

Mark your calendars for February 28th, this year’s Wine + Wisdom has something for everyone!  We are hosting a come-and-go-as-you-please Open House from 4:30 - 6:30, where families can sip n’ see environments.  Then, from 6:30 - 8:00 PM, enjoy a Parent-Ed talk with Mrs. Meagan on the relevance of mathematics inside of a Montessori classroom.  For children moving up, parents can get a sneak peek inside where their child is headed, including a sample viewing of our newest elementary environment, Taller.  Oh, and did I mention there will be wine?  We are looking forward to a full house at this fun and informative community event, don’t miss out!  See more parent ed offerings on our website.

OPEN HOUSE • Wine + Wisdom w/ Meagan Welch
Main House Pavilion
Thursday, February 28th, 4:30-8:00 PM 

Parent Teacher Conferences 👩🏻‍🏫
It’s that time again!  Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for February 22nd & March 1st. Each community will have conference times with parents scheduled by administration 2 - 4 weeks in advance. Be on the lookout for an email coming your way!

Returning Student Enrollment Contracts & Parent Portal 📄
Returning student enrollment contracts will be online February 21st.  Please note, we are restructuring our campus and staff assignments to accommodate for a new program and the upward growth we have experienced.  Bear with us as we work to serve your family, announcing changes as they are finalized. You can expect new tuition rates for the 2019/2020 school year, as well as schedule changes that will better serve our children and our growing community.  

Contracts will be available online this year and you will be able to access them via the Parent Portal set to launch February 4th. On the portal, you will find a map of the school with codes, drop off/pick up and parking instructions, a full year calendar, parent handbook, classroom rosters, weekly curriculum activities and reminders, snack menus, garden lesson topics and so much more.  Be on the lookout for an invitation so your family can log-in in the coming weeks.

Scholarship Update🏅
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Summer Scholarship Program.  Because of your generosity, we were able to award a full scholarship to a deserving child in our community for Spring 2019.  We hope to continue to offer opportunities like these and look forward to another successful Scholarship Fund Drive in June. 

SAVE THE DATE: PTA 👩‍👧
Our first PTA Meeting has been scheduled for February 19th at 6:30 PM.  Everyone is welcome! Mark your calendars and watch for details to come.

Observations 🧐
Classroom observations are open! Contact administration at admin@juliasgardenmontessori.com to schedule yours.  Observations are offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:30 - 10:00 AM in most environments. If possible, we encourage parents to observe their child's before parent-teacher conference.

Dates to Remember 🤞
January 30th - Toileting & Your Toddler Talk
February 18th - President’s Day, School Closed
February 19th - PTA Meeting 6:30 PM
February 22nd - Parent Conferences
February 28th - OPEN HOUSE 4:30 - 6:30 • Wine + Wisdom 6:30 - 8:00 
March 1st - Parent Conferences
March 15th - 22nd - Spring Break, School Closed

Enjoy these great candids, and the week to come!

Katherine Parlette Hunter
Founder/Head of School
Julia’s Garden Montessori 🌸
katherine@juliasgardenmontessori.com
www.juliasgardenmontessori.com
512-790-4094

Emma looks at her family inside the YCC classroom photo album.  Henry works with slotted box work (one of the first materials I ever made - a relic!) and Lyla practices both control of fine motor and control of error with the toothpick work during the work period. Boze tidies up after snack time, engaging in dishwashing.

Calder takes care of the plants indoors while Boze explores play-dough work; Henry carefully polishes the wooden tree and Ms. Carissa guides her students in preparing a seasonal snack of butternut squash.

Will focuses on bead stringing and Emma enjoys reading; Emile works on toothpick work and Henry practices cutting while a Humpierres brother looks on.

Calder prepares the muffin tin for snack time baking while Lyla does leaf wiping.  Aldo, Henry and Boze enjoy caring for the environment during the work period and Calder carries his sweeping skills outdoors for a different experience with this purposeful activity.

Calder enjoys watering the oregano and Lyla harvests turnips; everyone enjoyed garden time with Natalie this week.  Calder feeds the chickens and Boze delights in finding an egg inside the coop.

Juni feeds the chickens with Edith while Stefano harvests herbs.  Varenna and Edith prepare the jars for turnip pickling and Varenna chops.

Edith tides up with dishwashing while Stefano and Vivian get a check up with the doctor work; Gigi works with watercolors and Juniper does twisting work for hand strength. Vivian waters the inside plant.

New friends Edith and Stefano share a sweet moment during the work period; Vivian and Juniper peel oranges for snack. Stefano works on making bread rolls while Vivian and Gigi make the table beautiful for their communal meal.

Varenna shows off her turnip harvest, then washes and prepares a stir fry for snack time.  Ms. Phoebe leads a language lesson while Kian enjoys his book independently.

Vivian, Stefano and Gigi focus on bead stringing and the beautiful results it yields; Edith refines her cutting skills.

Juniper does the big work of preparing for dishwashing while Kian polishes his boots.  Gigi successfully buttons her jacket in preparation for going home after lunch.

Harvey looks at his life through the years and Felix works with the moveable alphabet.  Sam delights in banana slicing during the work period.

Beau scrubs bowls from snack and Ellani cleans her shoes; Zahra works with the snap frame and Andres does language work; Harvey categorizes leaf work.

James works with the knobbed cylinders and Jane explores the poetry book; newbie primary peep Penelope successfully builds the Pink Tower while Quinn and Anders collaborate on golden bead work.  Ellis works on reading and parts of speech and Juno does the moveable alphabet.  Findlay gets the chalkboard nice and clean for writing work - thanks, Findlay!

Ella, Quinn and Lana enjoy a beautiful afternoon playtime experience and, later, Ms. September reads her title “Sunshine Cake” to an attentive audience. Ms. Danielle leads a reading group to the Full Day children and they learn about insects together.